PC_Day26

Day 26

Thursday, 24 June 2004
Monterey, CA to Pacific Valley, CA
66.4 miles, 5h27m, 12.2 mph
Elapsed Time: 9h08m, Max speed: 45.4mph
Total Climbing: 5042ft, Max elevation: 1005ft
Total mileage: 1518.6

We were about to start out from Monterey when JT said he wanted to work on his brakes. But with a 2-mile climb ahead there was no reason to do anything right away. At the top of the hill we played with his front brakes until they worked okay. Then we plunged down into the Carmel area in heavy traffic.

Most of the traffic turned off before we reached Carmel Highlands, where we stopped at a little store right out of the 50's. When an actual 50's car stopped out front I had to get a picture.

50's car at 50's store.

Unlike previous days, the sun was out right from the start. Not only that, but we had a strong tailwind. I called Linda from Carmel Highlands (where there was no cell service) and told her to book us into San Luis Obispo in 2 days. This means we'll really have to put in some miles for the next two days, but with beautiful weather and favorable winds, what could go wrong?

Those appear to be hills in the distance.

After the initial climb, there was only one other big climb in the first 20 miles. The tailwind was so strong that I couldn't stay on top very long...it was pushing me over. The descent was scary and fast with sudden gusts and crosswinds. Then we had an easy cruise into Big Sur where we ate lunch.

Big Sur is a couple of miles inland and not cooled by the ocean breezes. The climb out of there was 4-miles long and very hot. I rode with my helmet off for most of the way. After that the tailwind went away and it was all up and down. Up and down.

Can you see JT?

Since there were lots of hills, there were lots of stunning views of the coast...
.

...like this...

...and this...

...and this.

Frankly, I've had enough stunning views from cliffsides. I'm ready for some boring beach views.

We had our second lunch, which turned out to be dinner, at a town called Lucia. Lucia consists of one building that holds a general store and a restaurant. We could have sat outside and had a stunning view of the coast...but we'd had enough of that today.

The view from the outdoor dining room at Lucia.

Since we ate dinner, we didn't need to buy much at the store. A few miles down the road we came to a forest service campground. It was right on the ocean and all the sites had some privacy. We decided to move on to the next forest service site, because it was 5 miles closer to San Luis Obispo. That one was not on the ocean and had no privacy. It was the campground for all the people with kids and dogs. Kids screaming all night, dogs barking all the time. Good thing I brought an MP3 player and earplugs.

By the way, this campground had no showers, so it's very important that we get to San Luis Obispo tomorrow.

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